


Half the Battle

by casual_distance



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-29 08:12:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6366235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/casual_distance/pseuds/casual_distance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel’s blind date went so poorly it didn’t even get started, but the date that happened immediately after that was perfect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Half the Battle

**Author's Note:**

> [Submitted AU #22](http://awful-aus.tumblr.com/post/116221284597/submitted-au-22): “We were both stood up by our dates at this fancy restaurant and they have an ‘at least two to a table’ policy so you need to have dinner with me” AU

Castiel dropped his chin into his hand and stared at the empty plate across from him. The napkin was still folded into a swan, its head hanging low, shadow flickering in time with the dancing light from the candle in the middle of the table. He sighed and glanced down at the wrist of his other arm to see that his "date" was coming up on half an hour late. The ice in his water had melted, and condensation spread in a wet ring around the base of the glass on the tablecloth. Castiel sighed again.

He glanced up as a body moved into his line of sight, expecting it to be the waiter. Castiel was ready to hear that he had to leave- for some inane reason the restaurant had a two-party minimum on their tables, as if Castiel's money was somehow less valuable when he was sitting alone. 

It wasn't the waiter. Instead it was another man with a dark scowl on his face. He dropped down into the seat across from Castiel and continued to glare at the waitress who had followed him over.

"There," he argued at her. "Two now, so how about you bring me the food I ordered when I first got here?"

The waitress glanced at Castiel, then back at the man. "This isn't my table," she said and spun on her heel as she stormed away.

"Yeah, good," the man snarked as he grabbed up the menu from where it was tucked under the plate and started reading, still glowering. "Wasn't gonna leave you a tip anyway."

Castiel watched with raised eyebrows, his head tilted to the side. Finally the man sighed and looked up at him.

"The person I was meeting never showed. I noticed you were sitting alone too."

"Ah." Castiel nodded. "My date has stood me up."

"Blind date?" the man asked.

"My last," Castiel responded with a sour look. "Or at least the last I will allow my brother to set me up on."

The man laughed, head tossed back, and Castiel blinked, taken aback by the way delight transformed his face. The man looked at him, grinning. In the dim light of the restaurant it was hard to make out details, but from what Castiel could see, he was quite stunning: dark hair, eyes bright with laughter, pink mouth stretched wide, freckles dotting his face. Castiel tipped his head to the side. The man's smile dropped.

"What?" he asked.

Castiel cleared his throat and shook his head. He looked down at his own menu. Castiel glanced up as his waiter walked by but didn't stop.

"Dude," the man across from him said. Castiel glanced over to find him watching the waiter. "He just straight-up ignored you."

Castiel sighed. "Yes, well." He pushed his menu away and glanced around. "I was only here because of my date."

"Oh." The man frowned. "So... you're leaving?"

"I... was thinking so, yes." Castiel hesitated. "Did you..."

The man blushed. "Uh, well, no. I mean, no." His blush darkened and he fidgeted with his menu. He looked around the restaurant. Castiel waited and watched him. Finally the man sighed. "Look, I only came over ‘cause you're kinda hot." 

Castiel blinked in surprise, his lips parting. 

The man shrugged. "Figured if I was gonna get stood up, I might as well see if I couldn't- you know what, never mind." The man set his menu down and stood up. He pulled at his suit jacket. "It's cool if you wanna go."

Castiel felt his bewilderment give way to amusement, taken in by the red spread across the man's cheeks. "I would like to go," he said, standing. "I was thinking about going to a diner that's just a few blocks over. They have the best burgers." Castiel hummed thoughtfully, already debating what he was going to order. "Do you enjoy burgers, ah...?" Castiel trailed off and raised an eyebrow at the man in front of him.

"Dean," the man prompted, a slow smile curling his lips. "My name's Dean, and I love burgers."

Dean stepped closer, offering his hand. Castiel also moved forward, taking his hand and holding it instead of shaking it. Dean didn't seem to mind, smiling widely at Castiel as he stared at him. Castiel stared back, barely aware that he was also smiling.

"Dean, I'm Castiel. Would you like to join me for burgers?"

Dean hummed and put a finger to his chin in the mockery of thought. "Gee, Cas, I dunno. Do they have pie?"

"It's a _diner_ , Dean," Castiel chided.

Dean laughed. "Guess I can't say no then."

Castiel shrugged at him, then squeezed his hand before letting go. Dean turned and led the way out of the restaurant.

The diner, it turned out, was a favorite of Dean's and run by a family friend. Dean grinned at Castiel over his burger and shared his pie, to the shock of the waitress- Jo, who took great delight in making sure Castiel knew that pie sharing was equivalent to a love confession. Dean blushed bright red and rolled his eyes at Jo.

Castiel cleared his throat and smiled at Jo. "That's too bad for Dean. I don't know how he's going to top this if he wants to impress me enough for a second date."

Jo laughed, and Dean gaped at him until he pulled himself together to leer across the table. "You only say that because you haven't got me in bed yet, Cas."

Jo shrieked and tossed a balled up napkin at Dean's head. "And that's my cue to bail!" she said over her shoulder as she walked away.

Dean grinned at him, wiggling his eyebrows, and Castiel stifled his laughter to narrow his eyes at Dean. "You seem very sure of yourself," Castiel challenged him.

Dean leaned back, spreading his arms across the back of the booth. He shrugged. "Come on, Cas. Tell me you can resist this."

Castiel made a show of looking him up and down. "You aren't as charming as you think you are."

"Better than your real date," Dean returned. "I showed up."

"You sat down uninvited."

Dean shrugged again. "What's that saying? Showing up is half the battle?" He continued to grin at Castiel until Castiel broke and smiled back at him, wide and bright and so utterly delighted that this beautiful man was still enjoying his company. 

"We'll see," Castiel returned, though he suspected that Dean might have actually already won the battle. "I think a full date consists of dinner and a movie?"

Dean chuckled, leaning forward to pull his wallet from his pocket. "Got me there," he agreed amicably as he threw cash on the table. "There happens to be a movie theater just a block from my house."

"What good luck," Castiel noted. He turned to slide from the booth in order to hide his smile. "Shall we?" He offered Dean his hand.

Dean paused and looked down at it. Then he reached out and slid his fingers between Cas's, looking up to smile at him. Jo shouted a goodbye at them as they left, and another waitress- a redhead- yelled out for Dean to call her, a pointed "in the morning" tacked on.

Dean flicked her off over his shoulder, but he obeyed, calling her as Castiel curled up against him, listening to the rumble of Dean's voice in his chest. He traced patterns in Dean's freckles until Dean kicked her off the phone and rolled Castiel onto his back, leaning down to kiss the smile from his face.


End file.
